Obama to Fed Employees: Don't Text and Drive (includes GPS use!)

hey I find it dangerous to enter in even small details while driving at speed

A good decision. Of course, he cannot prevent people from doing that kind of thing while they're not working or on duty.

We'll see what the individual States do.

Fred

I think this is an awesome idea, less distractions = better drivers.

It's not Rocket Science. Just pull over. The few seconds, or minutes, it takes to complete a phone call, make a GPS or text entry is nothing compared to the amount of time that will be taken up in prison for causing a fatal accident or dying as a result of your own actions.

If it includes GPS, that's just crazy. Some people can't get around w/o their GPS!

I just purchased a nuvi 850 that has a remote control. Once you press the remote you speak commands to the GPS unit. It works great, it can even find POI like Starbucks, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc. without any button pushes on the GPS unit. It seams to work great except in heavy rain and when the radio is too loud.

Sounds like it also includes changing stations or the volume on the radio... "engaging in any other form of electronic data retrieval or electronic data communication."

Also, with regard to "It's not Rocket Science. Just pull over," in Arizona and California, you can get a ticket for pulling over on the shoulder if it is not an emergency. At San Jose airport, near the rental car lot, I pulled into a turnout to take a cell phone call and a cop came over within 30 seconds to write me a ticket for unlawful parking. I got a verbal warning. In Arizona, on the I-10, I pulled over onto the shoulder (which was about 20+ feet wide at that spot) to take a call. I had pulled all the way over to the edge of the shoulder (over a lane width from the edge of the roadway). A cop pulled up and asked what the emergency was. I told him that I received a call and pulled over to take it. He was not impressed. After a 5-6 minute lecture on how it would be my fault if someone were to run off the highway and hit me, he gave me a warning and let me go.

So trying to be safe and not talk on the phone while driving gets you in trouble with the cops.

Now I just take the calls...

I'm sure this is all over Talk Radio, but as I see it President Obama's Order is for Federal Employees. Many states and municipalities already have the same orders and laws in effect.

When I drive I use a Bluetooth Headset. Living well NW of Chicago, I drive the NW Tollway/I-90 to O'Hare on a very regular basis. Texting by drivers as they blow by me is common. Cell phone use is also. We read about horrible accidents caused by teenagers, Bus and Train Drivers, and many others, almost daily that were the direct result of Texting or Cell Phone use while driving. The Police alone cannot stop it.

We need to be responsible for our action.

If people would just use common sense we would not need laws like this.

Talking on the phone is one thing but actually sending a text message or reading in general you must take your eyes off the road. That is where the biggest part of the problem comes in.

In most states there is a law of some kind that goes along the lines of the only video device that is allowed in view of the driver is a GPS unit.

This is why most in dash DVD screens when properly installed do not work when the vehicle is taken out of park, or shouldn't work. To do a text message you must have a "video" screen/image device to do this properly. Granted at the same time a phone also has a screen when dialing manually.

My 265T from Garmin had a safety setting to prevent looking up POI's and other destination's while moving for safety. This is easily disabled but not recomended.

As for safety while driving I cannot count the number of people that I have had to pass on the right because they could not maintain the correct speed limit while dialing or talking on the phone. And these are those holding the phone to their ears. Not sure about those using bluetooth or other hands free.

Myself I feel those that are under 18-21 should not be allowed to use cell phone or GPS while driving. The radio is bad enough. No driver should be allowed to be watching any kind of movie or texting while driving. If you receive a text and some sent more then one line pull over legally or ignore it until you can get to a legal stopping location. Using a hands free headset is safer in my opinion but the calls should still be limited as much as is humanely possible.

But for the most part just like children rough housing "It's all fun until someone gets hurt", and most people will say I have not been in a collision that I caused by texting or talking on the phone. What about those that get cut off and cause an accident you did not see because of paying attention to what is in front of you instead of behind or beside you.

Sorry for the rant. I do talk and drive, I get into the right hand lane, maintain speed, use a hands free head set and kepp the call to a minimum. Still not 100% safe admittedly.

It looks like "obtaining navigational information" means they can't even look at a GPS. Maybe we sometimes go to far?

Seems like a good idea, since texting and driving is a bad idea. I doubt it would be used against using GPS units while driving.

How about adding to the list:

Don't:
-think when you're driving
-breathe
-scratch your nose
-fart
-pretend to sing / dance
-sneeze
-blink
-look at anything except the road straight ahead
-talk to anyone, anywhere, even in the car
-drink water
-drink coffee
-burp
-belch

we can't be too safe.

ARTICLE: Will the future bring - No Cell Phones In Cars? Keep Your 'Thumbs On The Wheel'.
http://bit.ly/XfbM3

Gary Hayman

Think about this story. A friend's 14 year-old son was walking home from school with a friend. He was three houses from his home. Someone else saw him do something that was against school rules and reported it to the school. He was given in school suspension because he had not gotten home (three houses away), and was still considered in school or under school control.

Does this mean that if someone is enroute to or from work as a government employee, this applies? How about going off during lunch?

As a soon-to-be government civilian, I'm not too happy about this.

Joe

Question. What did we do 40 years ago before cell phones became available? We survived. IMHO, we would probably be better off if cell phone use was prohibited in a moving vehicle, unless it involved a 9-1-1 call. I see people talking on cell phones at 6:00 AM. I just wonder to whom they are talking. It makes no sense to me. Also, while I'm at it. I constantly see law enforcement officers talking on their cell phones. With all of the radio traffic, etc., going on in that car, how safe is that?

It is. Fed employees only, and only while they're driving as federal employees, at this point; the article says as much. He can't issue an Executive Order to mandate this as a federal traffic safety rule that applies to all drivers nationwide. Well, he could issue it, but he wouldn't, and it wouldn't stick if he did. It does suggest we may be heading that way, though, but I doubt Obama would initiate it.

TXTBlocker lets parents and employers disable texting while driving
It should come as no surprise to hear that texting while driving is a particularly dangerous thing to do. Recent studies have shown that drivers are 23 times more likely to get into an accident if they are texting and an astonishing 46% of teens have admitted occurrences of driving while distracted as a result of fiddling with phones. A new product called TXTBlocker addresses these issues directly by disabling a number of phone functions, with the specific impact decided by a choice of settings available from an account page online once you subscribe. Read More
http://www.gizmag.com/txtblocker-disable-texting-driving/130...

Here's a new study that shows the number of drivers using or manipulating hand-held devices or cell phones is increasing.

The study says that during daylight hours, 6A - 7P, approximately 11 out of 100 drivers is either on a cell phone or manipulating a handheld. The majority of drivers holding a cell phone while driving has a 37% greater chance of being female rather than male, and the greatest number of these impaired drivers is below 24 years of age.

The study was released by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811184.pdf

I couldn't agree more. They'd increase the penalty for cell phone use in moving vehicles.